A proposed constitutional amendment to protect transportation funding from budget cuts came up 14 votes shy in Connecticut’s House of Representatives on Dec. 8, meaning the legislation won’t be on the state’s ballot next November.
The state Senate had unanimously passed the “lockbox” measure pushed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, but the House vote was 100-40 when 114 yeas were needed to meet the required three quarters of the membership.
One of the nay-sayers was Rep. Bob Godfrey, who argued that the bill was about bringing tolls back to Connecticut, which hasn’t had them since 1989.
Connecticut's transportation fund currently receives revenue from fuel taxes, registration fees, some sales taxes and federal grants. The Transportation Finance Panel’s funding options will be announced in January, a factor that some legislators said prompted them to vote against the lockbox now.
In the most recent U.S. Department of Transportation “rough roads” survey, 24.1% of Connecticut’s road miles were rated “poor.” Only New Jersey fared worse. Connecticut had the smallest share of road miles rated “very good” at 3.2%.
